Bangkok News
Bangkok news, politics, business, crime, and nightlife—stay updated with breaking stories, events, and expat updates from Thailand’s capital. Get the latest from The Thaiger, your trusted Bangkok news source.
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Sponsored How to reduce out-of-pocket medical expenses in Thailand?
Managing medical expenses in Thailand is important as healthcare costs continue to rise. The country’s healthcare system includes both public and private options, but even with the Universal Coverage Scheme (UCS) for citizens, many still face high out-of-pocket medical expenses....
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Authorities struggle to find solutions for the BKK smog
PHOTO: The Nation “Normal cheap face masks are useless to protect people from air pollution.” Bangkok is suffering some severe air pollution as authorities struggle to find a way to reduce the dangerous levels of particulate matter floating around the city. A lack of wind is allowing the pollution, mostly from vehicle emissions and local industry, to hang around the…
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Thai artist uses sex workers’ hair to make social critique in BKK installation
PHOTOS: Vivianne Chow Thai artist, Imahathai Suwatthanasilp new work at the Bangkok Biennale has brought attention to the prostitution industry in Thailand. Through her work the artist critiques preconceptions on sex workers while highlight their prevalence. Imahathai’s new work involved hair, specifically hair collected from a number of sex workers in Thailand. Her passion for hair started when her father was…
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The Chao Phraya lights up for new years eve
Heading to the capital for new years eve? Looking for some spectacular fireworks? The Tourism Authority of Thailand will host the longest fireworks display ever staged along the Chao Phraya River in Bangkok as part of New Year celebrations at midnight on December 31. Called the “Amazing Thailand Countdown 2019”, the spectacular display will last five minutes and is expected to…
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Tourism Authority denies spending 9 million at political fundraiser
The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is rejecting a report that it spent 9 million baht on banquet tables at a pro-Junta fundraising dinner on Wednesday night. TAT director Yuthasak Supakorn claims the agency had nothing to do with the dinner and TAT might take legal action against those reporting the false news for defaming the agency. “It was TAT’s…
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Thailand’s next football star may come from West Africa – VIDEO
Photo: Facebook/Look e san Al Jazeera has just released their new episode of ‘101 East’, their award winning TV program which gives an in-depth look at weekly current affairs and telling bold untold stories from Asia and the Pacific’. This week’s episode takes a look at Thailand’s football industry and how many West African players are travelling to our capital,…
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Natural birth son fathered by Thailand’s first test tube baby
PHOTO: The Nation Pavornit Srisahaburi a 31 year old engineer stands in the maternity ward at Chulalongkorn University waiting to visit ‘Delta’ his first baby. Unlike many fathers who have share the same magic moment, Pavornvit is special as he was born and created by artificial insemination, or intro-vitro fertilisation (IVF) in the very same ward. “In Vitro Fertilisation is…
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Another Thai interest rate hike predicted for next year
by Phuwit Limviphuwat and Wichit Chaitrong We’ve just had one .25 basis point interest rise to the base rate. Now there’s already talk of another in 2019 which will start to affect consumer spending, especially mortgage holders. Siam Commercial Bank (SCB) and Phatra Securities are predicting that the Bank of Thailand (BOT) is likely to implement a modest interest rate…
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Leading policeman makes extraordinary claim
“It’s always foreigners who are responsible,” says a leading chief of provincial police . Region One chief Pol Gen Amphon Buarapporn made the outrageous statement claiming he had never seen a case Thais ripping off fellow Thais. Sanook quoted the commander as he was commenting about a case against a 53 year old Chonburi man who met wealthy Thai widows on…
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First satellite made-in-Thailand enters orbit
PHOTO: ABC Action news, Bangkok Post A Thai university has announced that the first domestically produced satellite has now entered orbit. Weighing in at 1 kilogram and measuring only 10 centimetres on each side, the tiny educational satellite was one of 64 on board the recent SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched from California on Tuesday. Pongsatorn Saisutjarit heads the research…
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Thailand should prepare for global economic slowdown
The global economy is in disarray with no clear direction. This is the stark warning from Supachai Panitchpakdi, former director-general of the World Trade Organisation. He also says that the US-China trade war is having an adverse impact on investor confidence, Investors don’t know where to safely invest, because the trade war could easily disrupt global supply chains, he said. Supachai,…
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Her Majesty the Queen visits hospital for checkup
Her Majesty Queen Sirikit has been admitted to the Chulalongkorn Hospital yesterday for a general physical checkup. The announcement from the Bureau of the Royal Household. The announcement says that the Queen will remain at the hospital until Friday.
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A Sarburi father alleges gang rape of his 12 year old daughter. A policeman called her a ‘slut’.
PHOTO: The grocery shop in Saraburi province where the alleged rape took place. A government official in Saraburi province, just north-east of Bangkok, has resigned after footage appeared of the official trying to force a 12 year old girl into saying she wasn’t gang-raped. The official, identified as Sangwan Sitthipanya and described as “a leading local administrator”, was forced to…
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Political parties throwing extravagant dinners to raise election funds
The pro-Junta Palang Pracharat political party is expecting to raise 600 million baht from a grand fund-raising dinner named “One Thailand”. The event will be held tonight at Muang Thong Thanee in Bangkok. The Palang Pracharath Party (PPRP) appears to be winning over business leaders and the elite after selling most of the tables for tonight’s event. The event will…
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Three Russians detained in Thailand at the request of the US
Three Russian citizens have been detained in Thailand at the request of the United States in the last three years, head of the Consulate Department of the Russian Embassy in Thailand, Vladimir Pronin told reporters yesterday. “Only in the last three years, three Russians have been detained in Thailand at the US’ request, two of them – in 2018,” he stressed.…
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British tourist found dead in Bangkok hotel room
PHOTO: Facebook/Luke Ramage Police in Thailand are investigating the death of a British tourist in Bangkok, according to the British Foreign Office. The man has been identified by grieving friends. According to Sky News, Luke Ramage had only just arrived at his hotel when he was found unresponsive on his bed by a receptionist. Mr Ramage, from the town of…
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Thai Rath downsizes newspaper workforce citing crippling decline in revenues
Thai Rath, the country’s biggest newspaper, is buckling under the weight of digital change and downsizing its staff. In yet another sign of the woes in the Thai media industry, the mass-circulation Thai Rath newspaper is downsizing through a voluntary early retirement scheme. Thai Rath, which at its peak claimed a daily circulation of one million, said in a statement…
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Suspect arrested over grenade attacks during Bangkok protests in 2014
PHOTO MONTAGE: Thai PBS Back in early 2014 the street protests were in full swing on selected streets in the capital. In the midst of the sometimes violent protests a hand-grenade attack. Now, four and a half year’s later, a man suspected of throwing the hand-grenades into the anti-Yingluck government protests at the Victory Monument and on Banthadthong road has…
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Leonid meteor shower displays across the early morning skies
“…at some times, about three to four meteors per minute.” PHOTO: Nexter.org More than 500 stargazers, many from Bangkok, camped out at the Prachinburi Observatory last night and early this morning to witness the annual Leonid meteor shower. The Bangkok observatory set up 12 large telescopes for the stargazers to watch the meteor shower. By 5am, over 500 people were…
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Diamond thief captured on Thai border
by Kittipong Maneerit He read about a gem-seller wanting to sell a diamond valued at 10 million baht. So he set up a fake gem shop in Bangkok for the sole purpose of preparing a sting to lure the seller into his ‘shop’. The man fell for it and was robbed of his precious stone. The 59 year old thief…
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10 million baht gem heist getaway motorcycle belonged to dead Thai man
The getaway motorcycle used in the theft of a 10 million baht diamond from a fake jewelry store, set up for the heist, in Bangkok’s Bang Rak district on Tuesday belonged to a long-deceased Thai man. The motorcycle, which the two suspects abandoned at Soi Wat Doung Khae in Pathumwan district, was found yesterday. Police are now investigating how it…
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Assets valued at 39 million baht seized in Magic Skin case
And there’s more to come, according to investigators… The AMLO (Anti-Money Laundering Office) seized 19 million baht cash and two luxury cars in the ‘Magic Skin’ scandal. The seizure was ordered after they allegedly supplied sub-standard cosmetics and weight- loss products. The AMLO have also seized two luxury cars worth 10 million baht each. A spokesperson for the AMLO says that the case…
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Samut Prakan zoo denies mistreatment of elephant
by Suthinan Kongsin The Samut Prakan Livestock Development Office have inspected Samut Prakan Crocodile Farm and Zoo after media reports and photos on social media revealed a thin elephant performing tricks for tourists. “I’ve been visiting the zoo for a long time because I like to look at the animals. But when I visited last week I was upset when…
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Bangkok police officer kills French citizen following bar brawl
A French tourist was killed in his Bangkok apartment in the early hours of Wednesday by a local Policeman. The two were seen at a Lucky Shot Food and Sports Restaurant on Sukhumvi Soi 11/1 Tuesday evening. Witnesses say a bar brawl broke out between the two men in which the tourist was getting the upper hand, the reason for…
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John Mayer coming to Bangkok for the first time
IMAGE: John Mayer Instagram, Billboard.com John Mayer will be playing in Bangkok on April 3, 2019 for his newly announced ‘Australia & Asia Tour 2019’. The 41 year old American, hailing from Connecticut isperforming for the first time in Thailand. Tickets will be released at a later date but put a circle in your calendar. Mayer’s most famous songs include…
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Chinese charged over test-taking scam
by Khanathit Srihirundaj A scam of a different kind has been uncovered today. In this case no one was being harmed but the system was being cheated. The Nation reports that Thai police have arrested seven Chinese who were allegedly hired to take ACT (American College Testing) exams on behalf of other test-takers who wanted good results in order to…
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Two foreigners arrested over cannabis oil raid in BKK
PHOTO: The Nation A Canadian, a Brit and two Thais were arrested last week following a drug raid in Bangkok. 67 year old David Kulik from Canada was arrested last Monday in Chon Buri alongside 64 year old Brit, Joseph Toole. The Thai Narcotics Suppression Division raided the warehouse in the Bang Phli area of Samut Prakan, south of Bangkok,…
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Nude couple pictured on top of Egyptian pyramid sparks investigation
“Climbing pyramids is illegal in Egypt, with critics saying the incident shows a disregard for the nation’s laws and its conservative society.” The question of tourists and their behavior at national monuments and popular sites comes up again today. This time in Egypt… Read the report HERE. “A video that shows a foreign couple in a naked embrace at the…
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King leads the way in ‘Bike for Love and Warmth’ – PHOTOS
Yesterday’s Bike Un Ai Rak event proved again that Thai’s love getting onto their bikes and joining in a royally-sponsored cycling campaign. The event was held yesterday, in the capital and provinces. Hundreds of thousands of people across the country took part in the “love and warmth” cycle rides. The main event was held in Bangkok where the ride was…
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Police hunt gunman after man watching road racing is shot
Police are searching for a gunman who has shot and critically injured a young man while he was watching motorcycle road racing on a Bangkok motorway. Prawet police say security camera footage shows the shooting incident at the outbound motorway in front of the Hua Mark mosque in Pattanakan subdistrict in Suan Luang district. 55 year old Somchai Pengthong filed…
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“Kayaking for Chao Phraya” – anti river-dumping campaign
by Kornrawee Panyasuppakun The vice rector of Thammasat University, Prinya Thaewanarumitkul, will lead other kayakers on a 400 kilometre long “Kayaking for Chao Phraya” campaign to collect trash and urge people to stop dumping their garbage in the river. The kayakers start their 14 day journey on December 10 from the point where Thailand’s major river flows. They will kayak…
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